Update on Sacramento Budget Priorities

We want to provide a quick update on Sacramento issues and upcoming advocacy efforts.

Governor Brown released his revised budget for 2017-18 on May 12th and the State Legislature is in the process of finalizing its budget priorities for 2017-18, including public higher education.

We remain committed to enrolling more California undergraduates and plan to add 2,500 more in 2018-19 provided the State commits the necessary enrollment growth funding. We are also looking to partner with the State to secure $9 million dollars to enroll an additional 900 graduate students. Graduate students support undergraduate student education, conduct ground-breaking research, and help fill state workforce needs.

Unfortunately, the Governor’s May Revision includes a proposal to take $4 million dollars each from the UC and CSU’s general fund allotment to fund financial aid for students attending private universities. We do not disagree with the State’s desire to fund financial aid for these students, but we believe that this funding should not come at the expense of our public institutions.

UC is also committed to doing its part to improve transparency, accountability, and budgeting practices. Check out our progress here.

In the coming weeks, we will be asking you to connect with your state legislators to share your support for additional graduate student enrollment and to reverse the Governor’s decision to redirect $4 million from UC to fund financial aid for students attending private universities.